Anarchists
by watchmen4
Summary: Members of the Rising Tide decide to acquire weapons of mass destruction, forcing Skye and Clark Kent to take action.
1. Chapter 1

RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE LOS ANGELES

"This will stop the warmongers in their tracks."

Skye was glad that she had her van to live in: she didn't want to live in this dump with the other Rising Tide hacktivists in her cell. She'd been on her own for a while, and had forgotten how little money the group had. The decor showed the lack of steady income the group produced, with peeling paint, worn furniture, and a highly frayed carpet. She peered down at a strange looking device on the stained coffee table, arguably the best looking thing in the apartment. The other Rising Tide hackers seemed to be excited by it, so she donned a smile to fit in. "What exactly is it?"

"It's an electromagnetic pulse generator." Tall with a punk rock look, Eddie was the leader of the local Rising Tide cell. "When it's detonated, it'll send out a wave of energy that fries every electronic device within a five mile radius."

To Skye it looked like a normal bomb, or at least what nuclear bombs looked like in the movies. But that wasn't her main concern. "How did we even get that?"

"We have a supporter at the new Queen Industries weapons plant. They just started making these for the government, and he scrounged enough individual components to give us a working unit. He also got us some experimental pulse rifles that were slated for destruction. Evidently they don't hold a charge consistently." He pointed to a wooden crate in the corner. A hacker opened it a drew a sleek, electrified rifle, more advanced then anything that Skye had imagined. "They were designed to hurt guys like Thor and Captain America."

She was confused by their mere presence here. "What are we supposed to do with those? I know that some of us are strapped for cash, but it's not like we can sell this stuff."

"Oh, we won't sell this stuff." Eddie grinned. "We're gonna detonate the bomb right outside of the plant. Let's see how how many weapons Old Baldy makes then." He got high fives from several hackers.

Skye looked from one person to another to see if they were joking. They weren't. "You do realize that there's a hospital not even a mile from there. You'll kill all of their equipment. Their generators won't help."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"Skye was shocked by his nonchalant response. "People will die!"

"How many more people will die because of Queens tools of death?" asked Amanda, Eddie's girlfriend and the most agressive person in the group. She and Skye had never gotten along. "We launch a DOS attack against Queen, and he's up and running in no time. Expose Lex Luthor's dirty laundry, and his spin doctors clean it up. We have to do more if we're gonna hurt guys like these."

What happened to everyone since the last time she'd seen them all? Nothing in their e-mails had indicated that there was a problem. Where was the idealism, the sense of justice, that made them rebels to begin with? "So we resort to the same ruthless tactics that they use? That's not who we are!"

Eddie proudly hefted a rifle. "Then we need to change who we are."

This wasn't the Rising Tide that Skye knew. She joined an organization that wanted to take innocents out of danger, not view them as simply collateral damage. Eddie sounded like the very people that they were supposed to be fighting. "I understand your frustration, Eddie. Things haven't our way lately. But guns..." she shook her heads in angst. "All this does is hurt credibility, and hurt innocent people. How are you any different from the Ten Rings?"

Amanda charged up a rifle and aimed it at and imaginary target. "Maybe we need to get rid of you, Skye."

"What!?" Skye looked to Eddie, who simply shrugged. Why argue any further? It was clear that reason wouldn't - a chill went down her spine. "You're not gonna kill me to keep me quiet, are you?"

Amanda turned to Eddie. "That's a good question."

Then the roof caved in.

OUTSIDE THE RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE

LOS ANGELES

Clark Kent did his best to keep his head in the game.

Normally a group like the Rising Tide wouldn't appear on the team's radar: they were focused on countering Zod's anticipated conquest of Earth. Oliver Queen had even developed these weapons upon her request to resist Zod. But just after the weapons went missing a Rising Tide e-mail tripped a program that Chloe had set up to keep track of weapons of mass destruction being traded on the black market. The last thing that the world needed was for the Rising Tide to go from pacifist hackers to heavily armed insurgents. Clark wanted these weapons off of the streets ASAP.

The e-mail verified the possession of the stolen EMP bomb, but not its carefully concealed its location. Using other bits of intelligence collected elsewhere, Chloe was able to narrow down the possible location of the bomb to just a few spots worldwide, and the team scrambled to each of them to hunt the bomb down.

Clark was currently on the edge of a rooftop, looking down on on the roof of a two-flat that Chloe believed was housing the gamma bomb. Their intelligence was right atleast; Clark's x-ray vision revealed the bomb to him, and he could even see energy being softly emitted from it's core. It's eerie green similarity to kryptonite made him feel slightly uneasy. "Boyscout to Watchtower," he said into his communications earwig. "I have eyes on the bomb, as well as the pulse rifles."

"Copy that," said Chloe. "Putting the team on standby."

"How many hostiles, Boyscout?" asked Oliver Queen, who was perched on the rooftop a nearby building providing overwatch for the operation. He sported customized sunglasses which featured night-vision capabilities. "

Clark scanned the building again. "I count seven people inside." He examined their unconventional weapons, a kind that he'd never seen on Earth on before. "Only three have the energy pulse rifles." Ollie mentioned how powerful the weapons were, but were they powerful enough to hurt Clark? "There's a fourth man on the roof, with a set of binoculars and an Uzi." The roof sentry was looking everywhere but up, and Clark hoped that he kept it that way.

"Did we ever find out how they got those rifles?"

"No." Clark gave it some thought. "Well, we do know from that _Vanity Fair_ article that they were receiving weapons stolen from Stark Industries at some point. Maybe they have a new supplier." He gave the building another look. "I don't see any surprises. We should proceed."

"Yeah, we can handle the rifles. How's the perimeter"

"The coast is clear. No civilians within a quarter mile." That distance wouldn't protect anyone from an accidental detonation of the bomb, but if guns were fired no one else would be hurt. "Is that bomb active?"

Clark took a closer look. "Negative. Are we all set?"

"Standby. Boy Scout" Clark saw Oliver leave the roof and head towards the target house. "We move in three... two...one...go!"

Clark dropped towards the target building's roof. A tazer arrow from Oliver flew into the roof sentry's chest and sent bolts of electricity over his torso. He seized up, then dropped to the roof unconscious. Clark went through the roof right next to the sentry, and the now falling terrorist dropped onto one of the other fighters below in the head, and they both fell unconscious as they hit the floor. Clark twisted, landing in a crouch before he help up a hand. "Stop! Don't move!" The other two panicked at first, but then drew their pulse rifles and opened fire on Clark. "Oof!" A yellow beam slammed his in the gut and sent him flying back into the wall. He hadn't hurt so much in ages. Apparently it was more than just an energy weapon. How did Oliver develop technology like this? He didn't stop to consider the answer, instead using his heat vision to set one of the guns ablaze. The fighter holding it screeched in pain before surrendering the smoldering rifle. Before he could be hit again the door to the building came flying off the hinges in an explosion, with Oliver charging in behind his bow and arrow. The fighters barely had time to turn and look before Oliver cold-cocked one of them, and he went flying over a table and head-first into a wall.

The last fighter, a woman looked at Clark and Oliver, then the bomb on the table. Likely judging that this was her only chance to use the bomb, she dropped her rifle dashed for it. Oliver unleashed a roundhouse kick to her chin, sending her crashing to the floor knocked out. "We're clear, Watchtower" Oliver reported. "How about a pickup call for the boys in blue?"

"Copy that, Green Arrow."

Clark slowly picked himself up off of the floor, dusting himself off. "Those guns have some punch." He walked over to the fighters and began putting flexicuffs on their wrists.

The bomb began to hum slightly, catching everyone's attention. Clark looked at the bomb with her x-ray vision again. "The bomb hasn't been completely activated, but the core has gone active. Maybe all of the energy flying through the room did something to it."

"This is why idiots shouldn't play with fire. Let me try something." Oliver opened up a control on the bomb, and keyed the console inside. Instead of dying down, the humming increased. "Hmm. Let's try this again." He entered another command. The humming slowly receded. "We're all set." He stepped back and waved a hand over the bomb. "Boyscout, would you be so kind..."

"Gladly." Clark used his heat vision to turn the bomb's trigger into molten slag. "One more for the good guys."

RISING TIDE SAFEHOUSE  
>LOS ANGELES <p>

Skye didn't know who these people were, but they were amazing.

She'd read eyewitness accounts of Thor's fight in New Mexico, and tried to imagine it, but it didn't compare to what she just saw. Laser eyes! Bullet proof chests! And the way they stopped the bomb was amazing. Where were these people from?

The tall, dark, and squared jaw man in the red jacket held out a hand and helped her up. "I heard you trying to stop them. We appreciate that."

Skye frowned. "How did you hear what I said?" She looked at her cell mates as she stood up. "Was someone wearing a wire?'

The man with a bow and arrow pointed at his weapon Skye. "Stay on your knees."

Square jaw help up a hand."There's nothing hostile in her..." he paused for a moment, as if confused. "vitals.."

He lowered the bow and arrow and completed putting flexiicuffs on the other hackers.

How did he know about her vitals? Was that one of his abilities? "Who are you guys?"

Arrow man frowned. "Are you kidding me?" 

Skye couldn't argue with that sentiment. "Just asking."

Square jaw picked up the bomb and squeezed into baseball-sized refuse. "Get out of here. Tell the rest of the Rising Tide to stay out of the weapons game."

She pointed towards the other hackers. "What are you going to do with them? Throw them into some secret prison? You shown a single badge or warrant."

Arrow man trained his weapon on her again. "Do you want to join them?"

This time Skye had no problem being told to leave. Hoping that the rest of the cell didn't spill secrets to whoever these people were, Skye immediately headed for her van. 


	2. Chapter 2

SKYE'S VAN

DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Skye's world had changed overnight.

First came betrayal as she uncovered several members of the Rising Tide, people she'd considered friends, were willing to kill her and others in order to further their political goals. Several days after the fact she still couldn't understand how she hadn't seen the signs of their shift in vision, the moment when they'd stopped seeing anyone who'd disagreed with them as a friend. Were they ever really her friends? Hopefully they wouldn't mention her name the ATF.

What about the superpowered thugs who'd arrested come and arrested them? Skye had hacked the ATF, FBI, and Homeland Security SWAT databases, and couldn't find any info on them. Where'd they come from?

There wasn't any time to solve that mystery. As soon as she saw the alien invasion of New York, Skye hopped in her van and sped out of the city. Alot of people had the very same idea, heading for the suburbs or even Mexico, and the interstate was flooded with traffic. It took her hours just to make it outside of city limits, and she finally began to feel safe as she hit the desert road.

She raced his unmarked van down the road, ignoring speed limit signs. The world was under attack by an alien army and there was panick everywhere. Who would care about one car out in the boondocks? Besides, she had to find a spot where she could get she park and type without being bothered. The Rising Tide had been saying for years that the government had been hiding information about extraterrestrials, and now the proof was over Manhattan. How many people would this bring over to their side? Skye smiled at the thought.

If she hadn't been paying attention to the road she wouldn't have noticed the man lying in the middle of it in a fetal position shivering. Skye slammed hard on the brakes, skidding dozens of feet before coming to a halt. Taking a moment to make sure that she herself was okay, she jumped out of vehicle and ran towards the man. "Sir, are you okay? What's your name?"

"Davis. D-Davis Bloome." The shaking, twenty-something year-old man looked up at Skye, and the hacker recoiled at seeing bone-like protusions coming from the man's face and hands. Was he hit by a car? It was the only explanation that Skye could see for such injuries.

"What happened to you?"

"You-you have to go," Davis stammered. His eyes started to change color into a solid black all over. "I'm not safe."

Skye stumbled back. "Did someone do this to you?" Skye had never heard of someone's eyes changing color when they went into shock, but she'd never seen these kind of injuries before either. "Just hold on, Davis." Skye ran to her van. "Let me grab my cell phone. I'll call for help."

"No!" Davis growled. Did his voice change too? "He's almost here! You have to leave! Hurry!"

Skye picked up her phone and closed the car door. "Who's coming?" She looked around for a potential assailant. "Where?" She got back to Davis, whose skin had turned into a rocky gray. Skye thought it he was transforming like the Hulk. Had he been exposed to gamma radiation? According to the Rising Tide only Banner and Blonsky had experienced such an event, but what else would explain this? Davis started to rise. "Wait! You're in no condition to go anywhere!"

Davis paid her no heed, standing to his full height. His clothes ripped, his skin went completely gray, the bone-like protusions spread all over his body, and he grew taller than he'd been before. Skye felt a chill go down her spine as she came to startlingly possibility: would Davis break into a rage like Banner, or was he an alien invader? She wasn't going to wait find out; she turned to dash for her vehicle.

An inhuman chuckle was the last thing Skye heard as she took a blow to the back of her head and dropped to the pavement.

X-99 JAVELIN V-STOL TRANSPORT

AIRBORN ABOVE DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

"Green Arrow to Watchtower: we have eyes on Doomday." Davis, who's transformation Doomsday was now complete, slowly made his way towards a dark-haired Eurasian woman crawling towards an SUV. "It looks like he's hurt at least one civilian."

"Copy that, Green Arrow. Manhunter, Stargirl, Cyborg, standby to be redeployed if Davis goes on the move. Intercept him if he gets to the city."

"We're ready, Watchtower," John Jones said from Los Angeles.

"Be careful." Oliver could hear the stress in Chloe's voice when referring to her ex-boyfriend Davis. Oliver piloted the X-72 VSTOL transport to a quick hover before landing in the desert sand.

Carter walked towards the rear ramp, mace in hand. "Open the door."

Bart shook his head before donning his hood and sunglasses. "Let's wait for Clark to show up with the key."

"We have to hit this thing now. Open the door, archer!"

"He's right." Oliver grabbed his bow. "We have keep Doomsday here. If he gets near a populated area who knows what could happen." He opened the ramp, and Carter immediately flew out.

"Wait!" Dinah jumped up from her seat and went after Carter. "Let me soften him up first!"

Oliver ran out behind them. Carter's aggression could be useful, but it wasn't right now. "Impulse, get the injured woman of here!"

Doomsday made his way towards the Eurasian woman, who was now on her feet and hiding behind her van. She took out a smartphone and pointed it at Doomsday. Carter flew straight at Doomsday, rearing his mace back for a haymaker. Doomsday quickly turned, and when Carter brought the mace forward Doomsday caught it with one hand. He used the other hand to hit Carter in the jaw, sending him flying back into the air before skidding onto the road. His race was covered in blood and he didn't move. "Hawkman!" Bart ran over and picked Carter up in a fireman's carry. He zoomed off, kicking up a trail of dust behind him.

Trying not to let Carter's injuries be a distraction, Oliver motioned to Dinah before covering his ears. "Hit him!"

Dinah took a deep breath the released a canary cry that sent the Eurasian woman to her knees. Doomsday screamed in agony before leaping towards her. "Look out!" the Eurasian woman warned. Dinah barely cartwheeled out of the way before Doomsday's feet stomped where she was just been standing. He brought his fist down towards her head, but cartwheeled again. Oliver let loose a kryptonite-tipped arrow that bounced off of Doomsday's thick hide. Doomsday turned towards Oliver and brought his hands together in a powerful clap, and the force of the displaced air knocked Oliver off of his feet.

Bart ran back into the fray, hitting Doomsday with a speed punch that was so loud the it almost matched Dinah's cry. Doomsday grunted and stumbled. Bart skidded to a halt, shaking his hand in pain. He threw another running haymaker with his uninjured hand, and Oliver heard a "pop" when Bart's punch made contact with Doomday's face, and he knew that the hand was broken. Bart confirmed it when he cried out in pain. Doomsday grunted and took a swipe at Bart, but Bart easily ducked out of the way. Oliver cocked a high-explosive arrow. "Get clear!" Dinah covered her head for protection as Oliver let loose, and Bart ran behind the van. The arrow detonated on the back of Doomsday's head, but with no consequence.

"Watchtower, where's Boy Scout?!" Dinah demanded to know. "We don't have the firepower to hold this thing down!"

"I've lost contact with Boy Scout. I don't know if it's his comms or not."

What?! The last thing that they needed was Clark to have some kind of trouble. The entire plan depended on him. "We need reinforcements!"

"Got it. Manhunter, intercept, flank speed." Doomsday stomped the ground near Dinah, and a jagged crater formed under her feet. Taking advantage of her unsure footing, he landed an uppercut to her midsection. The bone protrusions on the back of his hand pierced her flesh. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she hit the sand.

"Dinah!" The team was dropping like flies, and he couldn't ask Bart to carry Dinah to an emergency room. "Watchtower, Impulse is down, and Black Canary is has taken a large stab wound!"

A moment later John flew onto the scene, landing in between Doomsday and Dinah. "Grab Canary. I'll keep him here." Doomsday pounded John across the jaw, leaving a huge gash on her cheek. John was rocked back, but he returned the blow just as hard. Oliver used the distraction to pick up Dinah and help her on to the transport. He could hear the grunts and roars of the fight outside as he drew medical supplies from a small compartment.

"We need to stop the bleeding first, then we have tp disinfect the cut. There's no telling what kind of alien microbes might be on it." Dinah sat up in her chair, moving gingerly to get more comfortable on the transport's deck. She gruntled as Oliver held gauze to her wound. "Help John. I can handle the bandage. He can't handle Doomsday alone."

Oliver shook his head. "What about you?"

"The sooner you stop," she pointed outside, "that thing, the sooner we can fly to New York and help stop this alien invasion."

It was a sizable gash, but Oliver had seen worse. Besides, she was right. He sighed. "Just hold on." He dashed back outside to the pugilism, and John was barely on his feet. He was clearly punch-drunk, and swung and missed with a weak right hook. Doomsday lifted a broad leg and kicked John in the chest, sending in John flying back dozens of feet, snapping a cactus in half before sliding into the sand. John tried to get up but couldn't. Doomsday turned towards the van, slowly stalking towards Bart and the civilian woman. Bart stood in front her as a shield. "You need to run, ma'am."

Oliver had no clue what to do. His kryptonite arrows somehow had no effect, and no one else was in shape to do anything. He certainly couldn't accomplish anything in hand-to-hand combat. Even if he could get the Javelin up and running in seconds, it was unarmed. How was he going to stop this monster? "Green Arrow to Watchtower. Manhunter's down, and I'm out of options here."

Just then he heard a sonic boom and another gust of wind slammed Oliver, filling the air with a cloud of sand. When it dispersed it was Doomsday that ended up on the ground, looking as surprised as Oliver felt. Clark stood over Doomsday, the knuckles of one hand stained with blood, the other hand holding a silver, octagonal disc. "I'm on scene, Watchtower."

Oliver recognized the disc as one of Clark's Kryptonian keys. Clark raised the key, and a portal to a gray, lifeless wasteland appeared behind the beast. Clark then grabbed Doomsday by his shoulders and brought him to his feet. Doomsday head-butted him, then landed an uppercut that sent Clark stumbling back. Clark blazed Doomsday's face with heat vision, and the monster covered his face and roared. It was Doomsday's turn to be kicked, as Clark sent him sailing back through the portal. Clark then immediately raised the key and closed the portal. "Doomsday is in the Phantom Zone, Watchtower. It shouldn't be long before he reverts to his human form."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Boy Scout."

Clark looked around. "Is everyone okay?"

"Black Canary has a stab wound in her stomach, and Impulse has at least one broken hand." He looked off into the desert. "I'm not sure what Manhunter's status is."

Bart smiled weakly. "I'm starting to heal. I'll check on him."

John was already starting to rise, bloodied and bruised but seemingly alright.

Clark nodded. "Let's get Canary and Manhunter to a doctor." He turned to the Eurasian woman. "Hello again. Are you hurt?"

She touched the back of her head and winced. "You all saved my life. Again. Thank you." She crossed her arms. "But the public deserves that there's a superpowered police force in existence. Where did you send that thing? And was that one of the aliens from New York?" Oliver walked over to her and took her her smartphone from her. "Hey!"

"I'm sorry. Even if I deleted the video that you took, I'm sure that a Rising Tide hacker has the skills to recover the data."

"That's illegal seizure!" She lunged for the phone but Oliver held it away. "Besides, all you need is the SD card!"

"That's all I'm taking." He removed the card, then held up the phone for Clark to examine. "Any offending data anywhere else, Boy Scout?"

Clark squinted at the phone. "It looks clean." He squinted into the van. "Not quite sure about her laptop, though. It has various types of intrusion software." He looked to the woman. "I applaud your desire to fight injustice. But you don't have to break the law to help others. Why don't you get rid of the software?"

The woman seemed to relax. "You have your methods, and I have mine."

Oliver handed her her phone back, and he and Bart helped John back towards the Javelin. "It's never too late to change your mind," said Clark.

SKYE'S VAN

DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Skye wondered again exactly who she'd been dealing with as she watched the Javelin took off. Federal agents who let a known hacker go? Superpowered beings with some kind of teleportation device? How long have they had that kind of technology? Does this mean that all of the Roswell conspiracy theories were actually true? She had no clue where to look for answers, and no idea if anybody would believe her story if she told it.

One thing that she did understand: after the events here and in New York, the world had certainly changed.


End file.
